When should I use Lightroom vs. Photoshop for everyday RAW photo editing?
Asked 4/13/2016
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2 answers
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I’m new to shooting RAW and using Lightroom. Most of my edits are basic: cropping, straightening, exposure, white balance, saturation, noise reduction, and lens corrections. I want my photos to look natural, not heavily manipulated.
For this kind of normal post-processing, is Lightroom usually enough? When does it make sense to send an image from Lightroom to Photoshop, and what kinds of edits are better handled there?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
10y ago
2 Answers
5
First, understand there is no "normal" post processing. You can spend hours on one image and use a dozen tools to achieve what you desire. Or you could convert from RAW to JPEG and call it a day.
If you are already achieving what you desire by simply using Lightroom, that is great. Many of the recent features added to Lightroom have been added to support just that, an all in one post processing environment.
I don't feel like I'm fully taking advantage of the editing capabilities at my disposal.
If you are paying for Photoshop and not using it, of course it is true that you aren't taking advantage of everything. But just because you are paying for it and not using it, it doesn't mean you should just use it needlessly either.
Why you would use Photoshop in addition to Lightroom could be any number of reasons, some which may make sense to someone not familiar with Photoshop and some just out of habit for those of us that have used it for years.
Some of the reasons I personally switch to Photoshop include:
- To use PS only plugins
- To have more control over healing and cloning
- To replace areas of an image (eyes, sky, etc)
- To have more control over fine selections
- To use tools like content aware fill, liquify, etc
- To use layers and full featured masking
Of course the list could be much larger and it all depends on your needs. For the time being, many if not all photographers can benefit from using both tools versus just one over the other.
Originally by user4892. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user4892
10y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
For most everyday RAW editing, Lightroom is usually enough.
A common workflow is to use Lightroom as the main hub for importing, organizing, tagging, backing up, and making global or light local adjustments such as crop, straighten, exposure, white balance, contrast, saturation, noise reduction, and lens corrections.
Photoshop is typically used only when an image needs more detailed pixel-level work that Lightroom is less suited for. Examples include retouching skin, removing or adding objects, detailed cleanup, restoration, masking/extraction, background work, or heavier manipulation.
Many photographers send only a small percentage of images to Photoshop; the rest stay entirely in Lightroom. So if Lightroom already gives you the natural look you want, you are not doing anything wrong by staying there.
In short: use Lightroom for most photos, and use Photoshop only when a specific image needs deeper retouching or compositing. Start simple and let the image dictate whether Photoshop is necessary.
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